October 26, 2006

"... A liberal thinks they can sleep in, and someone will cover their lame ass.” So said Ted Nugent, who came to Madison, Wisconsin last night.

UW senior James Sands said the strong-willed speaker made several inappropriate comments.

“I think he’s a moron — he’s a raging idiot,” he said. “He just likes to do it for the publicity.”...

Clearly expressing his Republican leanings, Nugent riled up the crowd with conservative credo....

“When I see a beggar on the street, I say, ‘Hey asshole, there’s a help-wanted sign right over there!’” he said.

The already rowdy crowd at the theater erupted when a member of the audience criticized Nugent’s non-involvement in the Vietnam War.

Nugent ended the prolonged verbal exchange between the two with the short demand, “Eat shit and die.”..

Nugent praised political activism with his unique brand of lobbying.

“It’s time to break out the crowbar of independence and bop some politicians on the head.”

Apparently, no one stormed the stage or started a fistfight. I'm glad there was good security, no violence, but still some rowdiness. "Where's the raucous activity?" I asked last week, inveighing against campus politeness. It's great that the kids let go the disrespect in the theater of free speech on campus.

CORRECTION: That's Ted Nugent, not Todd Rundgren. I've mixed those two guys up for decades, ever since the 70s... when I hated a lot of the music.

ADDED: Now that I've got the names straight... my blog search should work better. Before I was all why is no one blogging about the big "God, Guns, and Rock, & Roll" speech last night? Ah, no, actually I still can't find anything. Doesn't anybody blog anymore??

It wasn't anywhere near the fracas that The Badger Herald is reporting. Nugent was overwhelmingly applauded and cheered for his ultra-conservative commentary. Save the occasional heckler—"More money for corporations!"—and foolish question-askers, it was an Uncle Ted lovefest.

I'm tired of raucous activity. I'm tired of people thinking their political opinions make them unique and beautiful snowflakes. I'm tired of people venting their spleens. I'm tired of conspiracy theories. I'm tired of people trying to find the one true Scotsman. I'm tired of binary thinking. I'm tired of people.

I am not a fan of Nugent(or his music, Wang Dang Sweet Puntang? WTF) or of making huge generalizations , so I have no desire to defend his statements. But I find them to be very similar to those that have come out of the mouth of Howard Dean, with his crack about republicans never working an honest day in their lives.

As we drive, he coolly lays out the arithmetical gospel of the pro-hunting case: the 18 million whitetails that make up the nation's expanding deer population, the absence of natural predators, and the millions of dollars lost annually to habitat destruction. He brings up the 7,000 elk that starved to death in Yellowstone two winters ago and insists that hunting would have caused less pain and waste. He quotes studies that meat procured from the wild uses fewer resources than store-bought meat or even vegetables, when you factor in habitat loss and the pollution costs. Which leads him to the point that it's considerably more eco-sensitive and efficient for him to shoot, gut, and cook his meat than to buy it in a grocery store; which he hasn't done, he says, since the Nixon administration. He acknowledges the similarities between his views and those of environmentalists, particularly when it comes to his hatred of mindless development and his obsessive desire for habitat protection.

See? He's a friend of the organic, eat what you see (buy local, not imports), movement.

Degrees of difference. All part of the current discussion of should we really expect to buy fresh tomatoes in January and is buying Wal-Mart's organic produce raised on factory farms in China better than buying from local markets that may not be organic?

A bit off topic from the actual blog post content, but I bet many of his protestors would find much to agree about if they looked past the political rhetoric and his confrontational presentation.

I believe it refers to The No True Scotsman fallacy, "when someone defends the entirety of a group by excluding one thing or person from that group, someone or something that is part of the group on some reasonable conception of what the group consists of."

"1. Suppose I assert that no Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge. You counter this by pointing out that your friend Angus likes sugar with his porridge. I then say “Ah, yes, but no true Scotsman puts sugar on his porridge."

"When I see a beggar on the street, I say, 'Hey asshole, there’s a help-wanted sign right over there!'" he said.

I always kind of want to say this, since I'm surrounded by both beggars and help-wanted signs where I work. Hell, sometimes the guy's begging right in FRONT of a help-wanted sign. And people still give him money... sheesh, yuppie guilt at work.

The hero is the not the son, it tells us rather about a father's love, than a son's sin. It is about being lost, and then being found. The father did NOT bring the calf forth because the prodigal son agreed to work, you are missing the entire point of the parable.

Moreover, what can we take away from the older brother's self righteousness about the feast for the prodigal son in the first place???

The hero is the not the son, it tells us rather about a father's love, than a son's sin.

The story doesn't have a "hero". It's a parable. The point of the story is that a sinner who ceases to sin and asks for forgiveness should be welcomed back to the fold and forgiven -- not that a sinner who plans to keep on sinning should be forgiven.

It is about being lost, and then being found.

And a person who begs for money so he can drink instead of work isn't looking to be "found". He wants to stay lost.

The father did NOT bring the calf forth because the prodigal son agreed to work

Being willing to work was the sign that the son actually was rejoining the family. There's a reason the story doesn't feature the son coming back to say "dad, can I have some more money to go whoring".

Moreover, what can we take away from the older brother's self righteousness about the feast for the prodigal son in the first place???

The elder son was not willing to be forgiving once the other son returned to the family. That was his flaw. Face it, your belief that Jesus taught Christians to throw money at every lazy asshole who doesn't feel like working has no Biblical support.

As I recall, Jesus was all about associating with sinners to convince them to turn their hearts and all about helping those unable to provide for themselves. But I cannot recall a single story where Jesus indicates that it is a good idea to enable idlers.

hilarious. not ted and his patented schtick but the thing about mixing up rundgren and nugent. i was miffed at the dismissal of post-tommy "the who" as a few good songs but the progenitors of arena rock but now i'm convinced that there are some things the dear professor is off base about.

by the way, the story about nugent going to the draft board in feces filled underwear is a lie concocted by a notorious rock writer. so the Veteran that thinks Ted is a coward is misinformed, ergo nugent telling him to f--- off.

As for the Vietnam vet: Nugent did let him speak and actually answered his assertions, explaining about his deferment. It was when the man kept shouting "traitorous coward" that Nugent told him to "Eat shit and die."

I especially like the part about conservatives getting up in the morning to take care of business, while liberals sleep in and expect someone else to cover for them.

Me, I was up at 5:30 this morning (as usual) getting ready for work, packing lunch for my two school-age sons, getting them out of bed, etc., before embarking on my ninety minute commute to the hospital.

Guess that makes me a conservative - my husband would be quite amused by _that_.